Dear Everyone who made GFNnotts happen ...

I didn’t sleep well the night before our GFN Nottingham hack. I was scared no-one would come, worried that I wouldn’t be able to explain what Pulp Friction is all about …

I needn’t of worried. Wonderful, talented, generous people came and brought with them a wealth of knowledge and experience and most important of all for me – they “got it”!

After James, Jessie, Claire and I had told our stories and I had outlined the help I needed the place came alive. People who had never met before suddenly became co-workers, colleagues and team members.

Sarah and Lisa from GFNnotts set the scene and managed the whole process in a non-obtrusive, but very focused way – this was as much of a challenge for them as it was for me and everyone else. They kept me calm, made sure I engaged with each team, helped me when I struggled to understand some of the questions, supported everyone, created an atmosphere and environment which was safe, inclusive and friendly ….

A number of our members took part in the day – not just making smoothies or singing in the choir but also being consulted by the teams – everyone had a contribution to make. There was no hierarchy, just collaboration, co-operation, inclusion – what a wonderful, emotional, powerful day on so many levels.

The morning was about getting the ideas out into some order. After lunch (provided by the magnificent Marsha Smith from Super Kitchen) the focus was on formalizing everything.

There was never a lull of activity throughout the day as webs designers, developers, marketeers, business planners did the most amazing things, asked the most probing questions and produced hundreds of different coloured post-its notes. It felt so good to get all of the ideas and clutter out of my brain, onto the walls and to see others making sense of it.

And the work produced has exceeded anything I could of dreamed of - I reckon that in one day we did what would have taken me a year to achieve. I am so thankful to everyone and feel a huge responsibility to you all to keep up the momentum you have generated for us – a group of total strangers!

It is taking me a while to process and appreciate everything …. I marvel that busy people with busy lives gave up their valuable time to help Pulp Friction move forward. For me it has been a profoundly moving and humbling experience. My husband saw me cry for the first time in 26 years.